Vivian's Breakout
by Clear Free-Flowing Liquid
Summary: Vivian's had enough of her sister's crap. She's leaving. Alternate reality
1. I\'ve had enough

**Vivian's Breakout**

Note: This is an alternate reality from Paper Mario 2 beginning right after Mario and his party have beaten Vivian and her sisters. And it even comes with recommended music to play while reading.

Chapter 1: I've had enough

Vivian, Marylyn and Beldam stood gasping for breath, having just been annihilated. Vivian had stood until the end, being the most resilient. "You blew it big time girls," ranted Beldam, at the X-Naut base, where they currently made residence, "Big punishments for both of you now. Marylyn, no video games for a month! And as for you, Vivian…" As Beldam said this, she grabbed a branch (from the trees the X-Nauts planted for their moon-base's oxygen) and smacked Vivian with it, completely mowing her down. She continued to beat her sister with it, not satisfied with the result. Vivian may not have had much self-esteem, but she wouldn't scream during one of her sister's beatings. Not with pain, anyways. Beldam reached around for a new weapon, finding only a Styrofoam baseball bat. "Fists it is," she muttered as she turned around to face her victim and deliver the harshest beating yet. But instead, she found her sister standing upright, with a look of anger in her eyes.

(Begin to play "Let the Bodies Hit The Floor" by Drowning Pool)

"Ah, want to take it standing, do you? All the more fun it will be to break you," Beldam jeered. She swung, only to have Vivian block her fist.

"Not this time," whispered Vivian.

"What? Oh, you're in for it now," said Beldam. Swinging with her other fist, she was met with Vivian's block again. This e, Vivian put down her original blocking and connected with beldam's face. She struck again and again, feeling confidence course through her body. This was her time now. She grabbed the branch and snapped it in half. She was going to beat her sister with her own two hands. She lifted Beldam into the air and brought her down again, with the force of a hurricane. As Beldam lay in crumpled heap on the ground, Vivian walked over to her other sister.

"Come on," she said, "We don't have to put up with her any more."

"She's a traitor Marylyn, don't go with her."

"Marylyn's answer was as clear as any words could have been: one finger, I'll let you guess which one.


	2. Now it gets good

Author's notes: I feel like addressing various reviews, so first: to all those who said that Vivian should have beaten up her sister in the game, if you had her as your partner during the second fight against Beldam and crew, she did. Now onto Chicken Miasma's review, yes, this story was inspired by "Better Off Alone" the best fanfic ever written. And the X-nauts don't grow trees directly on the moon, they have a room in their fortress with soil and grass and trees. And how do you know all those tanks were oxygen tanks? Could be hydrogen, or water. And the x-nauts couldn't survive without oxygen, because they're actually just dudes in suits. Notice how Peach gets into one? And your last point about Marilyn not being likely to flip off her sister, your own story put the nails on the coffin on this one. Marilyn probably doesn't like how Beldam treats Vivian, so in all likelihood, that would create tension. Plus, while it pales in comparison with her treatment of Vivian, Beldam's treatment of Marilyn probably wasn't all sunshine and roses. More tension. I think that my story was more realistic than you said it was.

Anyways, Chapter 2, Now it gets good

Vivian's scabs were healing. It had been ages since she had had no injuries. It felt good. Marilyn was off cooking part of breakfast that day, scrambled eggs. Vivian was busy with making pancakes. She had recently discovered a spice that worked quite well for her. No one knew what it was, but she did. It was a cross-breed of nutmeg and ginseng she had discovered back on the base when she'd been experimenting with genetic engineering (she had a lot of time on her hands back then, constantly having no privileges, though the more she looked back on it, the less she could remember why she ever took her sister's crap. It was because of an old hierarchy put into place by the Shadow Queen, and she'd just never realised that she didn't have to follow it anymore). They currently lived out of a tent they had bought with the few coins they had (Beldam was always in charge of money, even though she had recently lost 3, 000, 000 coins in the stock market).

"Guh! (eggs are ready)" came Marilyn's voice.

"Okay, I'm almost done," said Vivian. She ducked out of the tent for a second to get some milk from the store down the street (they had set up on an empty lot).

Start Playing Lady Stardust by David Bowie

She walked quickly, afraid that her pancakes would burn, and in her rush, she bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry," she said, "I'm such an idiot."

"Oh, that's okay, if you hadn't hit me, I would have ran into the water," said her mystery victim. She looked up into a man's face. Since I am a man, I have no idea what to make him look like, so use your imaginations, you know the point I'm trying to get across. He was on roller skates, and must have been out of control.

"Oh, well then, um… okay," she said, not really thinking.

"Umm… yeah," he said, "by the way, my name is Damian."

"I'm Vivian," she said, "Well, umm, bye I guess."

As she started walking away, she heard him stutter out, "You, umm, you know, wanna have dinner sometime?"

"Sure," she said, taken aback by this new development, still believing Beldam's lies that she was ugly.

"How about Saturday at 8:00?" he asked.

"How about tomorrow (it was Thursday) at 7:00? Saturday at 8 is just too stereotypical," she said.

"Sure," he said.

END OF CHAPTER

Oh, yeah, she got the milk and the pancakes were good, so were the eggs, etc.


	3. Dinner

Chapter 3, dinner

Vivian was getting ready for her date with Damian, putting on her makeup, looking at herself in the mirror and realising that was how she always looked, but being fine with it. She was excited, this was her first real date in years. She'd been out before, but now she didn't have to constantly look around her shoulder to see if Beldam was there waiting to kill her.

They were meeting at the restaurant at 7, and it was 6:45. The restaurant was a 15 minute walk from where they were. Do the math. "Marilyn, I'm leaving now," she said.

"Guh! (when are you getting back?)"

"I don't know," she confessed.

"Guh… (okay, but you know Beldam could be plotting something)"

"Not after the beating I gave her."

"Guh. (well, if you think so)"

Vivian left, walking down the street. She caught out of the corner of her eye the purple, shadowy form of her sister, Beldam. When she turned to look, the figure was gone. This was going to be another one of these nights.

She met Damian at the restaurant, and they got a table. Before they sat down, she leaned over and asked the waiter, "If you see an old woman wearing a blue and white striped hat, who looks a bit like me, could you tell me?"

"Certainly," said the waiter, who's name tag said Shawn.

"So," said Damian, "what's the deal with the old woman thing?"

"My sister, I'll tell you about it later," she said, wanting more than anything to get out of this conversation as fast as possible.

"Come on, do we really want to start off the night with secrecy?" he asked.

"No, you'd think I was weird and creepy," she said.

"Well, the fact that you're not telling me leaves it up to my imagination, and I can imagine some pretty weird stuff," he said.

"Okay, fine, my sister is evil. My other sister and I used to live with her, doing evil stuff. If we defied her, she'd do unspeakable things to us. Well, me, my sister got off easily, but still she stayed only because she knew if she left, I'd be killed. But after our biggest screw-up to date, and my latest beating, I just snapped. I absolutely destroyed her and left. My now I live with the other sister, who's name is Marilyn, for the record."

"Wow," said Damian, "I stand corrected, that was about as crazy as anything I can imagine. But it's all behind you, right?"

"Well, sort of, I have a hunch that she's planning something. I could swear I saw her on the way here," Vivian said. Just saying it out loud made her realize just how real the threat was.

"Well, she's not here now, so let's just enjoy the evening," suggested Damian.

"Amen to that," agreed Vivian.

"Ready to order?" asked the waiter, approaching their table.

"Are you ready?" Damian asked Vivian.

"Yeah, are you?" she asked back.

"Yeah."

"Well then," continued the waiter, "what'll it be?"

"I'll try the waldorf salad," Vivian said.

"I'll have the steak, medium rare," said Damian. _Meat is murder! _"Where's that voice coming from?" _Trying out that technique where the author speaks in the story using italics, usually for comedic effect. _"Oh."

"And anything to drink?" inquired the waiter.

"Umm… can we see the wine list?" asked Damian.

"I don't usually drink," said Vivian.

"Oh, never mind," said Damian.

"Well, then, I'll ask again, anything to drink?" asked the waiter.

"Well, I'm going to have a screwdriver," said Damian.

"I'll have a shirley temple," said Vivian.

"Okay then," said the waiter, departing the table.

"So, how about that Mario, eh?" said Damian.

"I actually owe my happiness to him. He and his crew beat my sisters and I, leading to when Beldam, my evil sister, tried to beat me worse than ever before, and I decided to finally not take it any more," Vivian said.

"Really? I'm just glad he finally killed Hooktail," said Damian.

"What? Hooktail's dead? I used to work with her. She wasn't nearly as bad as people said. She and I used to work for this big evil demon, me because my sister made me, her because the demon herself made her. Well, it's probably better this way, she volunteered to protect one of the crystal stars, one of seven keys to releasing the demon again," said Vivian.

"Wow, I had no idea," said Damian in shock.

"So what's your life like?" asked Vivian.

"Well, not quite as interesting as yours, but not boring. I grew up in Beanbean Castle Town, my family were the only humans. My parents were cops, always hunting down Cackletta. Once they caught her, but she got out on bail. Then we moved to Rogueport, and I got my first job as a fry cook at Zess T. burger. On a hot stock tip, I invested in Fawful's headgear. By the time he went out of business for full time evil, I'd already diversified my portfolio and was doing great. I haven't had to work in years. I've been able to live off my dividends, in neither poverty nor luxury. And that's my life," concluded Damian.

"Wow, you're lucky, that or skilled," said Vivian.

Just then, the waiter walked up and spoke, "Ma'am, that woman you asked about, she's here." A jolt ran up and down Vivian's spine. Beldam walked in.

"Ahh, there you are, my ugly. And you've found another ugly too," she spoke.

"I'm done with you Beldam. You treated me like crap for all these years, and I finally left. Accept it. You can't treat people like that," Vivian said, anger creeping in her voice.

"Well look who's finally grown up, but face it, I own you," Beldam jeered.

"I think my total destruction of you will speak for itself," Vivian said, anger mingling with confidence. She was remembering that Beldam's physical advantage over her was all a myth. She was stronger than Beldam by a long shot.

"Let's see about that," Beldam said, slapping her sister in the face.

"Don't you realize we're in a crowded restaurant?" asked Vivian.

"More people to see me destroy you and shut your insolent little mouth forever," Beldam said, with another slap.

"After all these years, do you think I even feel that?" taunted Vivian.

"That's just the light stuff, now I will really dig into you for the first time. I'll finally be able to get all my loathing for you out of me, you pathetic little thing!" said Beldam, getting louder all the time.

"I'm in the middle of a date!" yelled Vivian.

"I don't care! Haven't you got that yet? You're just a tool for my personal use!" screamed Beldam.

"You know what? I don't care either! I'm going to rip your miserable, decrepit limbs off your body and throw you into the gutter where you belong!" yelled Vivian.

Just then, Beldam grabbed her by the hair and started punching her repeatedly. Vivian finally broke her sister's grip and started punching back. They spilled out the door and onto the street. Vivian gained the upper hand and started pummelling Beldam harder than she'd ever done to anyone ever. Faster than even Beldam had ever hit anyone. Beldam grabbed a lid from a nearby trash can and hit Vivian with it, trying as hard as she could to defend herself. But Vivian was unstoppable. Her fists rained down harder than a monsoon. Finally Beldam found the right tool for her task, a baseball bat someone had left lying out in the rain. It hit Vivian's skull with a sickening thud. Vivian recoiled. Beldam repeated, and again, and again, with each hit her expression turned more and more sadistic. But Vivian wasn't about to admit defeat. She brought her hands up, blocking the bat. She wrenched it from her sister's hands, and began using it herself. She stopped eventually, content that she had just about evened out the unfair advantage that had been given to Beldam through use of the bat. Now that it was fair, Beldam was nearly dead. Vivian had just one thing left in mind, she lifted her sister up, carrying her limp body like sack of potatoes, and dumped it in a dumpster. Then she simply walked back into the restaurant. Her food was ready.

"Sorry, now you probably think I'm insane," said Vivian.

"Well, yes, but that's okay," said Damian, taking a bite of his murder— er… animal flesh— Steak! There we go.

"Wow, I don't really know what to say," said Vivian.

"What? I just think you're great," Damian said.

"Well, I think you're great too," replied Vivian.

END OF CHAPTER

Author's notes: Wow, I'm more creative at less than an hour until midnight.


	4. Old Acquaintances

Chapter 4, Old Acquaintances

Author's notes: This story so far has been incredibly fun to write. The only hard part was trying to make Beldam seem like a real person, instead of just one of those pure evil cartoony bad guys. Did I do a good job? You tell me. P.S. Chicken Miasma, to be an X-Naut, you have to be wearing a uniform, X-Nauts are not a species, they're people in uniforms.

Back to the story.

Vivian was back to the same old. Her body ached from head to toe, but this time, she had the triumphant satisfaction of knowing that she had taken her sister for a serious ride. This was probably the last time she would ever have to feel like this. She needed to do something for fun, she was bored. She decided to go to the fortune teller's. Did I ever mention that they were about a quarter of a mile from Rogueport? No? Well, here, I just did. She needed a job, but maybe the fortune teller could help her out with that. She ducked into the pipe, and ran straight into… Mario?

"Hey, we don't want any trouble," said Goombella.

"Hey, Beldam's not around, is she?" said Vivian.

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked a small blue Yoshi, who I'm going to randomly name Bob.

"I only did bad things because she would hurt me if I didn't. Finally, I beat her into the ground. Twice," replied Vivian.

"Well, we can't say we're not happy for you," said Flurrie, who Vivian knew from her movies.

"Wait, are you Madame Flurrie?" asked Vivian.

"The one and only," said Flurrie.

"Wow, big fan," said Vivian.

"Always glad to hear it," said Flurrie.

"Well, I should get going," said Vivian.

"Stay in touch," said Goombella.

Now that that's over with, Vivian had experienced so many emotions in the last 30 seconds. First, fear, then relief, then admiration. But now, she had to get going to the fortune teller's. She found her way there, and paid for a crystal ball reading.

"Hmm…" the fortune teller gazed into her ball, the entire room turned dark, and Vivian felt a chill run down the back of her spine, "You will be visited by an old acquaintance. My ball says you used to work together, and you thought you'd seen the last of her."

"Oh, well, that's… well, that doesn't look good then," said Vivian, her mind in a haze. How many times must she go through this before it would be over?

She walked home, her mind full of fear. Looking over her shoulder every 10 seconds or so, she always saw nothing. She got home, and told Marilyn about this development.

"Guh, guh, guh (I guess she'll keep going until she gets the better of you)," said Marilyn. Just then, they heard a woman's voice at the door.

"Anyone home?" came the voice. It didn't exactly sound like Beldam, but Beldam was always quite good at voices.

"What do we do?" asked Vivian.

"Guh! (Don't you remember? You're stronger than Beldam, If you're expecting her, that makes your job that much easier)" was Marilyn's reply.

Vivian walked to the door ready for a fight. She unzipped the door (remember, they're still in a tent) and saw… Hooktail?

"Hooktail! You don't know how good it feels to see you! I thought you were dead!" said Vivian, relieved.

"Well, you just make a few noises, fall over, bring up the crystal star, who's going to argue?"

"Wow, so why'd you let him take the star?" asked Vivian.

"He would have really killed me if I'd kept going. I figured why die _and_ give up the star when you can just give up the star," Said Hooktail.

"Good point," said Vivian, "Come in."

"Umm… small problem: big self. I can't exactly fit," said Hooktail.

"Oh, yeah," said Vivian, embarrassed, "I'll come out then."

They started walking, when Hooktail came in with, "So what have you been up to all these years?"

"Well," answered Vivian, "A few days ago, Marilyn and I finally left Beldam. Then yesterday she and I got in a big fight and nearly killed each other. And now I think she wants revenge."

"You know, my brothers and I were always rooting for you do leave that horrible slave driver. More than once I considered assassinating her, but I thought you'd be upset. You needed to realize how bad you had it yourself," said Hooktail.

"Well, now I have it good again, and I'm even seeing someone," said Vivian.

"Really? What's he like?" asked Hooktail.

"Well, he's (insert description you used before) and really nice. He didn't even seem phased when Beldam showed up during our date and I beat her up," said Vivian.

"Well, that's good. I might even find someone now that I'm no longer guarding that crystal star and living off Koopas that try to kill me," said Hooktail.

"Wow, we haven't seen each other since way back in the days, have we? And this time there's no Shadow Queen to breathe down our necks," said Vivian.

"Yeah, we should do this more often," said Hooktail.

"So what have you been doing with your spare time?" asked Vivian.

"Well, I've been working as an oven at various restaurants," Hooktail told her.

"I'm still looking for work," Vivian admitted, "I'd probably have money coming out my ears if Beldam hadn't lost all the money Marilyn and I earned investing in Enron. It's so low; it'll go back up eventually, she would say. She heard that as a stock tip, buy low, it will go back up. Most people realized that Enron was a sinking ship and that you should invest when it's low but not in crap so deep it's saying hello to corn. Nonetheless, I'm bound to get back to work eventually," ranted Vivian.

"You're telling me… I lost hundreds of dollars in Nortel stock. Thankfully, I made it all back up with Brandis Global Equity mutual funds," said Hooktail.

"Really? Who's your financial security advisor?" asked Vivian.

"(insert random name for advisor from Professional Investments)," said Hooktail.

"Really? Have you got their card?" asked Vivian.

"Yeah, right here," said Hooktail, pulling out a card.

"I'll have to give them a call," said Vivian.

"I'd say so," said Hooktail, "So, I'd better get going. I have to see my therapist. All the Koopas I had to make my dinner eventually gets to you. Never mind that I told them I enjoyed it just to get in their heads."

"Oh, bye then," said Vivian. Walking away, she felt happy. Wow, Hooktail. That brought back memories. Memories of beer bashes with the "prisoners" left to "rot" in Hooktail's "dungeon". How clueless the Shadow Queen was. Memories of the two of them collaborating to make the best flame-broiled burgers (veggie burgers. Why? Because I said so). Why had they drifted out of touch? They had promised to write, but never had. They needed to do this again. That was fun, that was relaxing, that was—

Vivian was jolted out of her thoughts by a bottle breaking over her head. She turned around to face Beldam.

"Look, how many times to I have to beat you into little tiny pieces before you get the point? We're done. You've been nothing but mean and oppressive, and I've had enough," said Vivian.

"You're coming home with me. You belong there. We can never raise the Queen without you. Is that what you wanted to hear? We need you. There, I said it," said Beldam.

"You just come in here and expect me to instantly forgive you? Especially after you just smashed me with a bottle? You've got another thing coming," said Vivian.

"Of course I don't expect you to forgive me, I've done nothing wrong. I smacked you around because you needed it," said Beldam.

"When? When we lost to Mario, even though what we were doing was wrong anyways? Even though I was the last one standing? I didn't see you hitting yourself," said Vivian.

"It was your fault! You should have been protecting me!" said Beldam.

"So all my thoughts were supposed to revolve around you? Is that it?" screamed Vivian.

"Yes! Now you get it. I am the superior being!" said Beldam.

"Well, scereeewww yooooou (say it out loud, and you'll get my point)," said Vivian, "I'm smarter, stronger, and I do what's right!"

"Well, if you're not going to come willingly, I'm prepared to use force," said Beldam.

"Oh, please not this again," said Vivian, "Haven't you learned that I don't want to come back and that you can't make me?"

"Oh, we'll see about that," said Beldam, legions of X-Nauts forming behind her.

"Yeah, you're brave, what is that? 100 to 1?" sneered Vivian.

"You had to go there, didn't you," said Beldam, "Well then, boys, LET'S GO!" Vivian instantly felt the thud of dozens of boots on her body. She tried to fight back, Fiery Jinxing all her foes. To her amazement, it worked. They all scampered off. All except Beldam. Beldam struck from behind with a baseball bat, the same one as before, cracking Vivian in the skull. Beldam swung again and Vivian blocked like before. She raised the bat up; Beldam had lost control. She was about to pull the bat out of Beldam's hands when she felt an X-Naut come from behind with a large stick. She fell to her knees, coughing up blood. She lay in a crumpled heap, and heard her sister's voice, "Come with me!" Vivian shook her head. Beldam struck her with the bat again, "Come with me!" Vivian again shook her head. Beldam struck her again, "Come with me!" And again, Vivian shook her head. "Forget about this, she's not going to give up. Let's just go," said Beldam.

Begin Playing Rock and Roll Suicide by David Bowie, and read fairly slowly.

Vivian lay, defeated. She had narrowly avoided losing her freedom, but at what price? She slowly tried to get up, failing at first, then trying again. This time, she succeeded, but barely. She walked home, slowly, wincing with the pain that came with every step. Anger filled her mind, sadness filled her body. Sadness and pain. She thought she was done having to suffer physical defeat at the hands of her sister. At least this time she had not been mentally beaten, she hadn't given up. She was still free of her sister's dictatorship. But what if Beldam had continued? Would she eventually have given up? If this continued, would she give up? No, she told herself, it couldn't be true. She would always stay resilient. But even she must have a breaking point. Where was it? She reached home, and sat down. She told Marilyn what had happened, and Marilyn gasped in shock. "Guh! (Oh, my! Are you alright?)"

"I'll be fine. It's not like I haven't been here before. If anything, I think Beldam's lost her touch," Vivian chuckled. How she wished she could be telling the truth, her entire body writhed in pain. Marilyn brought her a glass of water; all the blood loss can leave people dehydrated. Vivian thought about what to do now. Should she run away? No, Beldam had found her here with no problem, she could likely do it again. Maybe she could get protection. No, that wouldn't be any good. Having to travel everywhere with people tagging beside her. She could have Beldam arrested. No, she needed to keep all her dignity. Having her arrested might make it seem like she couldn't handle it herself. And besides, the police force around here was incompetent. They could seemingly only catch someone once they had already been beaten down and left ready for easy pick-up by their would-be victims. But what about payback? Yes, Beldam only seemed to understand force. She needed to go all out and make her sister see that she was not just going to take this, she wanted to end it. She resolved that once she was better, she would find Beldam herself, and make her pay.

END OF CHAPTER!


	5. The Hunt Begins

Chapter 5: The Hunt Begins

"So, you're really going through with this?" asked Damian.

"Yes, I'm going to get that miserable piece of crap for everything she's done to me," said Vivian.

"But is it really worth it? You could be killed!" said Damian, visibly afraid for his love's life.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," said Vivian, coldly, though inadvertently, "She's pushed me to the limit, and I'm sick of it. Somebody needs to teach her not to mess with people the way she messed with me. Or the way she messed with my sister, for that matter."

"Well, don't do anything crazy, I'd never survive if I lost you," said Damian. Vivian found herself blushing. She couldn't deny it, she was in love. Damian felt the same way. Neither if them could ever remember who started it, but they found themselves kissing each other passionately. They felt lost in a world with only each other. There was nothing else, just them. I don't think they even knew where they really were. It just so happens that they were alone in an alley. I know, too stereotypical, but bear with me. Before they knew it, they were doing more. Their two bodies melding into one for what seemed like an eternity. But, sadly, it wasn't. Their passion was disrupted by an interruption: X-Nauts.

"I found her, dudes," said one, "And I think I caught her doing the no-pants dance."

"Hahaha, no-pants dance," said another, immaturely.

"What do you want with me?" asked Vivian, trying to register how many of them there were.

"We want you to come with us," said the first one. Vivian's count was up to 7.

"How naïve do you think I am?" asked Vivian, now counting 8.

"Dang!" said yet another one. 9.

"Dude, you just spoiled it!" said a third. There were only 9.

"Well, if you're not gonna come willingly, then maybe you'll come by force," said the second one, lurching ever forward.

"Look, pus bag, she's not going, get that through your no doubt puny head," said Damian.

Start playing Scat Man by Scatman John

The X-Naut dashed forward, aiming a kick at Damian. Damian caught and spun the unfortunate X-Naut on his stomach. He held on to the foot and grabbed the other one. He crossed them over, and lay down on the X-Naut, using his own legs to hold the X-Naut's legs down. He then grabbed the X-Naut by the head and pulled back. For anyone who knows wrestling, this is known as an STF. "Maybe you didn't hear me, Vivian is not doing anything she doesn't want to on my, or her, watch," he said to the X-Naut. He released the hold.

"OK, buddy, now it's on," said the X-Naut, who I'm going to call #1. All 9 of them ran forward, only to meet a wall of flame, courtesy of Vivian. Unfortunately, that took away all her FP. So she ran forward and unleashed a flaming fist on another X-Naut who I'm naming #2. Another, #3, ran and clobbered Damian from behind. Damian shook it off and cranked into him with an amazing roundhouse kick, without even turning around to look first. #4 had already managed to get a choke on Vivian, from behind, naturally. He was pulling on her neck with a rag he had found on the ground. A second later, he _was_ on the ground, as Vivian had hit him square in the groin. #5 was now doing the same to Damian with a different object, a lead pipe. Damian struggled to swing around and hit his assailant, but it was just impossible. Vivian took her moment of reprise to leap over Damian and land a kick (with her one leg/tail thingy) square on #5's face. But she tripped, and #6 was on her in 2 seconds, taking advantage of Damian's now weakened state. He was on the ground, gasping for breath, while #6 had his girlfriend by the hair, and was pulling her up. Once up, he began to hang her by her neck. Damian went for a low buzzsaw kick to the knees, just as Vivian managed to swing around enough to land a weak kick to the head. The two kicks were enough to knock the X-Naut on his head. #7, #8, #9 and #1 charged at the same time and lunged, in perfect sync, at Vivian and Damian. Each of them managed to take out one apiece, but the other two hit hard. #1 and #7, the ones that were hit, crashed to the ground with a satisfying thud. Or at least it would have been satisfying if not for the fact that Vivian and Damian were hitting the pavement just as hard. They got up quickly.

"Let's dance," said Vivian. Coincidentally, this would be a good time to switch the song to "Let's Dance" by David Bowie. All 9 X-Nauts charged at the same time, as Vivian stepped gracefully out of the way. She pulled out a Jammin' Jelly and recovered her FP. She hadn't had time to grab it earlier, but since all the X-Nauts had just fallen flat on their butts, this was an opportune time. She ripped off the biggest Fiery Jinx ever, and sent all of them running. Two seconds later, they were right back where they left off. Stop the music.

Play "The End" by The Doors

Beldam sat in her room, a glass of Brandy in her hand. News had just gotten back to her about her plan's failure. _Figures,_ she thought, _Why did I trust total idiots to do my job? Well, sooner or later, she'll be back here with me._

END OF CHAPTER

Author's notes: Well, I've now done the big 3, sex, drugs and violence. And **all in one chapter!** And in the next chapter, I'm going to stop this repeated pattern of Vivian getting attacked and fighting them all off. Short chapter, I know, but I'll be back.


End file.
